Eastern president appointed to state Campus Safety and Security Task Force

6/10/2013

WILBURTON, OK (June 10, 2013) – The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have appointed Eastern Oklahoma State College President Dr. Stephen Smith to the Campus Safety and Security Task Force. The task force will review and promote safety and security on college, university and career technology center campuses in Oklahoma.

Chancellor Glen D. Johnson will serve as the chairman of the Task Force, which is comprised of college and university presidents, career technology center superintendents, and campus safety and security personnel, as well as representatives from the state offices of homeland security, emergency management and mental health services.

"This task force has been formed to review and promote safety and security on the campuses of higher education institutions and technology centers,” Smith said. “I look forward to working with this group in hopes of looking at effective ways of keeping our employees and students safe in the event of crisis situations."

The role of the task force includes monitoring and responding to safety and security policies, advocating prudent safety policies and promoting the implementation of campus safety best practices.

Priorities of the task force include maintaining current laws prohibiting guns on college campuses, confirming continued National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliance, encouraging training and drills in areas such as behavioral threat assessment training and response, notification planning, emergency and intruder response plans, continuity of operations, mental health first aid training and SBIRT (Screening, Brief, Intervention, Referral, Treatment) training.

Additionally, the task force will encourage the creation of an active threat-assessment task force on every campus, advocate for increased drug and alcohol and mental health counseling, review existing federal and state laws and policies pertinent to the purpose of the task force and provide regular workshops to help institutional personnel identify and submit grants that would help fund a campus safety program.